Keller and Heckman Partners Rachida Semail and Hazel O’Keeffe will be among the speakers at Smithers’ Global Food Contact 2021 Conference and Pre-Conference Workshop, which will cover key issues facing the global food contact industry. The virtual conference will take place from June 14-16 and the pre-conference workshop will be held on June 8.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit voided the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conditional registration for the nanosilver-containing antimicrobial pesticide, NSPW-L30SS (“NSPW” or Nanosilva). In an opinion filed on May 30, 2017, the Court found that EPA failed to support its finding that early approval of Nanosilva was in the public interest.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule establishing that triclosan and 18 other active ingredients used in over-the-counter (OTC) consumer antiseptic products intended for use with water are not Generally Recognized as Safe and Effective (GRAS/GRAE) and are misbranded. The final rule is part of the ongoing review of OTC drug products that FDA is conducting, and amends the 1994 tentative final monograph for antiseptic drug products.

If an antimicrobial substance is used as part of a food packaging material to extend shelf-life, must the antimicrobial substance be listed in...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a conditional registration for a nanosilver-containing antimicrobial pesticide product. The product, Nanosilva (or NSPW-L30SS), contains 1% nanosilver by weight and will be used as a non-food contact preservative to protect plastics and textiles from odor- and stain-causing bacteria, fungi, mold, and mildew. Articles that may be treated with Nanosilva include household items and hospital equipment. The plastics and textiles will contain less than 0.003% silver by weight.

EPA issued interim guidance to clarify the Agency's toxicology data requirements for antimicrobial pesticides used on food-contact surfaces. The interim guidance explains that if pesticide residues in food resulting from use on food-contact surfaces are 200 parts per billion (ppb) or less, EPA requires certain toxicology data. If residues are greater than 200 ppb, additional data may be required. The 200 ppb trigger is based on total estimated daily dietary intake for an individual and not on the amount of residue present on a single food, which is consistent with the U.S.